In the late nineties, the then new Labour government announced a field trial to establish scientifically whether there was a link between badgers and cattle in the spread of Bovine Tuberculosis.
Two 'Wildlife Units' were to be set up; one in Cornwall and one in Gloucestershire. The shooting press carried advertisments in an attempt to recruit suitable people to carry out the surveying an trapping work in the chosen trial areas, and as it was the type of work that I had carried out throughout my working life, I seriously considered submitting an application.
I didn't apply when I first saw the adverts; mainly because I had plenty of work at the time, and the posts were only temporary.
When the jobs were re-advertised about a year later, they had become permenant positions, and my circumstances had changed; so after some discussion about the feasability of living and working in Cornwall, we decided that I should apply.
Following the formalities, and about three months of waiting, I arrived for work on my first day, and drove through the gates of what appeared to be a fortress surrounded by an electric security fence.
I soon realised that the security was serious. The 'unit' had a history of problems with animal rights campaigners, and was the subject of demonstrations against the trial and various types of what the animal rights people call 'direct action'.
After a short welcome, the new intake of staff, myself included, were issued with lots of new equipment, clothing, and copious quanitities of paperwork. The most significant items issued were our 'official diaries', mobile phone and pager.
As I sit here this evening, I am looking through my official diary for 2000. In it, every detail of my working life is recorded for that period of time, though mostly in code and jargon that I now smile about as I try and remember what it all means. Anyone not involved would not understand much of it; and that was one of the requirements of the code.
I well remember my then supervisor saying to us all on that first day:
"This is the Ministry. We abbreviate everything."
One of the most frequently used abbreviations was "O.N.A". For example, my diary for one day reads:
"0730 Leave ONA"
"ONA" stands for 'overnight accommodation'.................
I need to explain a little history to you. In the eighties, the ministry used to go onto farms infected with TB, and locate any badger setts on the farm and then gas them with Cyanide. This work was carried out by a much smaller 'wildlife unit', and the fieldsmen employed to do this work wore donkey jackets and steel toe capped boots.
The modern wildlife unit tasked with carrying out the Krebbs trial were kitted out to a far higher standard; Gore-tex had replaced donkey jackets, and walking boots had replaced steel toe capped boots. The only thing that had remained the same was the pay......
Prior to my arrival the system for working away from home was very simple. If you had to stay away, you got paid £55 for each night, and spent it as you wished. The new system was based on an 'actual' system. You had an allowance of up to £55 per night to pay for bed and breakfast, and another £21 to cover an evening meal and any incidental expenditure. If you had a ministry firearm, then you also got a further £21 per night 'responsibility allowance'.
All that sounds quite lucrative; but in actual fact when you had paid out for everything, there was nothing left.
On our very first day ONA was discussed. The new intake were informed that there was a book in the office which contained details of hotels in our working areas that were safe for us to use, and also where a 'deal' had been done.
The 'deal' was that in return for paying the full £55 per night for B&B, the hotel was expected to provide us with a 'complimentary' evening meal. That saved us poorly paid workers from having to dig into our £21 allowance for food, and left more cash for essentials, like beer.
Everyone did it; and no-one worried about it.
My first few months were very enjoyable. I was teamed up with a smashing bloke from Yorkshire, who, like me, wasn't Cornish, and didn't live down there.
We were trained in surveying, 4x4 driving, First Aid, Humane Dispatch and lots of other things that most of us already knew. We knew how to do these things, what we didn't know was how to do it the 'Ministry Way'....
As I left Truro at the end of my first day, the security guard bade me farewell with the words:
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